The Journey of a Non-Runner Turned Marathon Runner

Main menu

Post navigation

Technical Difficulties at the Track

Tuesday’s track workout was slightly comical because I had some serious technical difficulties! To ensure a proper warm-up and cool-down, I decided to run to and from the track. It’s a little over a mile and a half from my house, so that part of my run worked out well.

Once I got there, I was a little overwhelmed because there were a lot of runners on the track. I’m not used to running with this many people, and worrying about not getting in anyone’s way and passing people caused me to lose focus. I also ran into a former co-worker whom I haven’t seen in several months, so I was very distracted. And it’s not good to be distracted at the track, especially if you have a Garmin to monitor.

My track workout was relatively easy: 12 x 400 at 10k pace minus 55-60 seconds. I got through all 12 of my quarter mile repeats, but I don’t have accurate reporting of each one. I ran two repeats while my watch was off. I hate when my Garmin doesn’t track my runs; it almost makes me feel like I didn’t do the work (even though I know I did). Two of my repeats I apparently ran .3 at 8:55 and 8:30. This makes no sense. First I only had to run .25. Second, all of my other repeats were consistently below 7:30, so there’s no way I was running that slow. I have no idea what happened on those two repeats. Very odd.

In other news, I’m obsessed with Florence + the Machine’s new song, Shake it Out. I heard it on Smash a few weeks ago when Katharine McPhee sang a cover of it. Because I’m currently obsessed with running, I interpret a lot of songs to be about running. Some lines I especially like:

“And I’m ready to suffer, and I’m ready to hope. It’s a shot in the dark, aimed right at my throat.” – At the beginning of the race. There is a lot of suffering and hoping in a marathon.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn,”- At mile 20 when my legs are aching and I still have another 10k to go.

“And it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake it out,” – At mile 25. So close!